The Call – Film Review

But if Texas Chainsaw 3D was bizarre and stupid, The Call was just downright offensive.

TL;DR The Call is a high quality thriller. Up until the main characters ruin everything about the movie by tacking on an unnecessary “revenge” ending. Stay classy, ladies. 3 out of 5 stars.

It really was very good before that, though.

The plot isn’t anything too complicated. Halle Berry plays the world’s unluckiest perm victim and also a 911 phone operator. After fucking up a call which led to a teen girl’s death, she has trouble getting back to the job. When another young girl is kidnapped (Abigail “I have boobies now. Bask in your discomfort” Breslin), Halle tries her best to not lose another one. After things go south and Halle realises it’s the same guy, she sets out to find Abigail herself, dammit. And she does. And then instead of turning Mr Murder over to the police and doing her job properly, she and Abigail leave him to die in his bunker and they lie about it.

Girl power!

I was pretty unhappy with the ending. The movie had otherwise been about how professional and tactful and awesome 911 operators are, then the main character turns around and fucking kills a dude just for shits and gigs. He was already horribly injured. And contained. All Halle and Abigail had to do was call the police (because calls to the police are kinda in a 911 operator’s wheelhouse, you know?) and wait.

But lolz, nuh-uh. Let’s get some revenge trollol. #strongwomyn

Why I hate this movie:

I don’t really have any other big bug-a-boos about The Call. That ending just seriously spoiled the whole deal, though.

Oh yeah, Halle’s hair was crap.

The woman who calls 911 after seeing Abigail waving her arm through the tail light shouldn’t be on her phone while driving. That’s dangerous.

WWE Films appears to be stepping up its game. My only exposure to them prior to this year was the abysmal See No Evil. But with The Call and No One Lives on their roster, they might just have a chance yet.

Halle’s ideas to help Abigail are pretty genius. The tail light thing is great, as is the paint trail.

The killer’s motivation has something to with recreating his dead little sister. They thankfully don’t oversell it. But they do shows us that he scalped his previous victim (the one that Halle flubbed) and made a wig out of her. Aww. He tries to do the same and makes it a few inches across Abigail’s forehead before he’s stopped. Slicey.

Abigail gets best line with this simple choice of insult for her kidnapper: “Motherfucker!” She really is growing up.

Oh, and the killer stabs a good samaritan to death with a screwdriver. Screwdriver stabbing needs more representation.

Verdict:

It’s amazing how souring a bad ending can be. What a shame. 3 out of 5 stars.